OPTEC: Open Public Trust and Equity Corporations

i agree with Mander almost completely. The corporation, like television, is a structurally dangerous entity. The problem is not what is being produced or even how it is produced (or the content of the television programming) - the very form gives it a trajectory towards doing far more harm than good. Where we diverge is that the technology is unreformable (in the case of corporations, for TV he is likely right and it can not be).

The key to the reform is recognizing the structural problems of the corporation and building in as much as possible the antidote. The reason that it is short of revolution, is that there are aspects of the corporate culture which are likely necessary to survive in the contemporary economy. Perhaps, if we are lucky, OPTECs will be a transition technology as we move to other economic forms which are more sustainable. But just as i do not see an energy path shift away from coal and oil without going thru gas on its way to renewables. At least not if we want to avoid intolerable climate change.

The Key Principals are:

Transparency:

• Openness of accounting
• Openness of decision

Making Contribution to the Community

• Split Profits with an independent non-profit entity

Electronic Direct Democracy

• Service oriented to customers
• Direct Democratic Control

Promoting Positive Products

• Evaluating the politics of producers
• Giving Airspace to Boycotts

Environmentally Friendly Operation (mostly)

• Use greenest products available in operation
• Minimize use of paper
• Minimize travel of products

Taken together these steps move towards a responsible corporate entity, but they do not solve the foundational problem of the need for corporate growth and exploitation. They are in essense an effort to survive in a for-profit environment with a new less destructive form of economic entity. There will certainly be efforts to destroy such concept. However, if people choose to move their money thru such an entity, it maybe possible to construct a transitional economic entity, proving alternatives are possible and moving us on the road to structural change.